


A Venti Cup of You

by Abrokeinheart



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron Legendary Defender, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Barista AU, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), College AU, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Dancer AU, Everyone Is in College, F/M, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Insecure Lance, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith is a barista, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance has legs for days and the shorts he wear does not help, M/M, Modern AU, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Space dad and space mom are tired™, Voltron, does not help Keith is hiding his crush anyways, i guess, insecure Lance?, klance, lance is a dancer, probably all set in New York, shallura - Freeform, slowish burn, vld
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2018-12-07 02:50:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11614353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abrokeinheart/pseuds/Abrokeinheart
Summary: Keith is the new barista at a Starbucks not far from his university. One morning his world changes when Lance, a colorful dancer and fellow university student, skips into his life.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance sighs and rubs his eyes with his sweater paws as he walks into Starbucks. It isn't his favorite café, but the coffee is good and the baristas are lookers. He awaits his turn in the short line with the occasional yawn. Once at the counter, he expects to see Allura, the normal barista, but instead he sees a new guy. Lance observes his face, completely awestruck. 

"Are you going to order anything?" The barista narrows his eyes. Lance couldn't help but notice that they are an interesting shade of indigo. 

"How about a venti size of you?" Lance smirks and leans on the counter. The guy blushes darker than Lance's red leggings and looks away frustrated. 

"Okay, give me a venti featured dark roast with two shots of French Vanilla and topped with whipped cream. The name's Lance, by the way." Lance winks and makes finger gun gestures to him. 

He pulls out his wallet from the galaxy book bag that's hanging on his shoulder and pays the barista for the drink. The barista turns around and makes Lance's drink.

Lance sits at a table in front of a large window. His bag slides off his shoulder and to the ground. Lance gazes out the window at the bustle of the sharply dressed people walking in and out of offices. 

That's one thing Lance never wants to do, be a businessman. He dislikes suits, saying they're itchy and restricting. As a college student and aspiring dancer, he gets to wear what he loves; sweaters, shorts, leggings and crop tops. 

"Lance!" The barista calls out his name and shakes him from his thoughts. Lance bounces up to the counter with a smile. He looks at his cup. 

"How can you misspell 'Lance'?!" Lance stares at how it's spelled. Lainse. The barista shrugs and stifles a laugh. "No, come on-" Lance glances at the barista's nametag, "-Keith. You must have done that for shits and giggles because my name isn't that hard." Lance is laughing and Keith is grinning. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Keith tries to stifle his giggles. 

"Yeah, sure." Lance's laughs fade out and he sips his drink. "So, Keith, to make up for your mistake, how about you give me your number?" 

"Lance! Are you distracting my workers?" Allura, the Starbucks manager walks in the front door. 

"Sorry, Allura. It's kind of hard when your barista is such a cutie." Lance turns the woman. Allura rolls her eyes and walks behind the counter. 

Lance goes back to his table with his drink, but doesn't sit down. He rummages through his bag for paper and a pen. Lance quickly scribbles his name and number on a paper and goes back to the counter when Keith is helping another customer. Lance bites his lip. 

Once the other customer leaves, Lance shoves the paper towards Keith who looks at it curiously. Keith grabs it after realizing it was Lance's number. 

"You know, just in case." Lance rubs the back of his neck and smiles softly. Keith nods. 

"Just in case." He repeats. They stare at each other until Lance's phone rings, causing them both to look away quickly and blush. 

"Hey, Hunk," Lance greets happily. 

"Lance, you're late, again! Professor is going to kill you," Hunk whispers. Lance's face pales. 

"Well-"

"Don't say you're going to skip again. You are one absence away from getting kicked out of class." Hunk interrupts him. 

"I'll be there in four minutes flat. See you then," Lance says and hangs up his phone. 

Lance turns back to Keith, "see you around, Keith." Lance rushes to grab his back and rubs out the door towards his university. 

After almost running into four people and getting his white high top Converse dirty by stepping in a puddle, Lance makes it to class. Trying to regulate his breathing, he quickly signs the attendance board and gets in his seat beside Hunk before his professor turns around. 

Professor Douglas, or Douchebag as the students call him, turned and squinted his eyes. 

"So glad you could join us, Mr. McClain." Lance groans and Professor Douchebag goes back to his lesson. 

 

Lance is deep in his note taking when his phone goes off. A vibration in his bag that is loud enough for the surrounding students to hear and glare at him. He sheepishly grabs it out his bag. Lance hopes it's Keith, but no such luck. It's his dance instructor. He sighs and tosses his phone back in his back, vowing to check it once class ends. 

"I swear he gets even more boring with every lesson." Hunk groans after class. Lance laughs and nods his head. Lance's phone rings again and he groans. Lance grabs his phone again. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Lance, did you get my text?" His dance instructor asks. 

"Yeah, I did. I just got out of class though. I haven't checked it yet." Lance switches the phone to his other ear and yawns. 

"Ballet has been canceled for today. My niece is sick." 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope she feels well soon." 

"Thank you. Me too. I'll hopefully see you next week." 

"Bye." Lance hangs up. 

Lance and Hunk walk to their next class, physics. They take their seat next to Pidge. A freshman who was by far the smartest in the class. 

"Sup, Pidge," Lance says. Pidge groans at her phone in response. 

"Everything okay?" Hunk asks sitting on the other side of Lance. 

"My friend is being an idiot." Pidge slips her phone into her back pocket as the professor walks in. 

 

An hour and a half later the group is on their way to Pidge's apartment to have an all night video game binge. 

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Lance yells and flings himself onto Pidge's couch. 

Pidge snorts, "in your dreams." 

Pidge's phone rings. She nods a lot and hangs up. 

"My friend is coming over. He got into a fight with his brother." Pidge sets her phone on the counter. 

Lance and Hunk nod. They pile their stuff in a corner. 

A knock sounds at Pidge's door. 

"I'll get it," Lance says bouncing off the couch. 

Lance throws the door open to be met face first with the barista from earlier. 

"Keith?" Lance breaths out. 

A blush covers Keith's face, "Lance?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meetup at Pidge's house might not be good for everyone…

Lance steps to the side to let Keith in. 

"Keith!" Pidge yells coming back from her room. "Ready to get your ass kicked in Mario Kart? I hope you don't mind I brought some friends from uni." 

"Lose? To you? Never." Keith was flustered and it was obvious. He tries to mask it with mock confidence, but under the gaze of Lance, he can't quite get it right. 

Pidge doesn't notice because she's setting up the game with Hunk. Lance definitely notices though and he's just as nervous as Keith. 

"Keith, how long have you know Pidge?" Lance asks trying to break the tension.

"We've known each other since we were kids. Our older brothers are friends," Keith says sitting on Pidge's couch. Lance follows suit and sits beside him. Keith slightly tenses up. "How long have you known her?" 

"About a year. I was a sophomore in uni and she was in my advanced chemistry class. I wouldn't have passed if it wasn't for her." Lance smiles at the memory. 

"Who's ready to lose?" Pidge grins holding up the controls. 

"In your dreams, short stack." Lance grabs a controller and starts selecting his character. 

"I don't know, Lance. She did beat you last time." Hunk smirks. 

"Hunk, buddy, you're supposed to be on my side." 

Pidge hands Keith a controller and smirks. "These two play dirty, watch your back." 

"So, they aren't any different from you?" Kieth smirks. 

"How dare you, Keith?" Pidge gaps and mocks offense. Keith shrugs. 

The group chooses each of their characters and cars. 

"What track-" 

"RAINBOW ROAD!" Pidge yells cutting Hunk off. 

"Pidge, you only chose that one because you're good at it." Lance rolls his eyes. Pidge grins and selects the course. 

For the third time playing this track, Keith is in the lead with Lance in second surprisingly. Lance throws a blue shell at Keith. 

"I swear to God, Lance. If you throw one more blue fucking shell at me." Keith angrily presses buttons trying to get going again. 

Lance laughs and passes Keith's character. "Well, Keith. If you didn't keep getting in first place, and winning, I wouldn't have to." 

Lance is about to cross the finish line when Pidge kicks him from the side. 

"OW! Pidge! What the fuck?" Lance yells and drops his controller. 

Pidge crosses the finish line first with a whoop, and Hunk finishes in second. They high five and Keith and Lance glare at them. 

"That's payback for you two winning all the time," Hunk says. 

"Whatever, does anyone want to call in pizza?" Lance suggests with a grumble. 

"Sure." Pidge gets up off the couch and walks to her kitchen. She grabs her keys and asks, "does anyone want to go with me to the store?" 

"Why are you going to the store?" Keith raises an eyebrow. 

"If we're having a sleepover, we need the kitchen stocked." 

"If we're having a sleepover, I need to go to my dorm and get clothes." Hunk stands up and sets his controller on the coffee table in front of him. 

"I need to go get clothes, too." Keith follows Hunk's motions. 

"Lance, don't you need clothes?" Hunk turns to his best friend.

"Nah, dance was cancelled so I can just wear what's in my dance bag." Lance gestures over to his galaxy duffle bag that's over by the door. "While you three are gone, I'll order the pizza and I'm going to take a shower." Lance pulls his phone from his pocket. 

The other three nod and walk out the front apartment door together. Lance locks the door behind them. He orders four supreme pizzas as he walks to Pidge's bathroom. He turns the water on mostly hot and steps in while putting his music of shuffle. 

Lance sings loudly to the tunes of Shakira, Beyoncé and finally Marina and the Diamonds as he gets out the shower. He wraps a towel around his hips still listening to the loud music. He exits the bathroom with a cloud of steam and sings. 

"I'm miss sugar pink, liquor liquor lips. Hit me with your sweet love, steal me with a kiss." 

Lance doesn't hear knocking on the door as he dances around in just a towel. He does ballet spins with his eyes closed across the wood floor. The door opens and Keith walks in with a sigh and a key in hand. 

"…I'm going to be your bubblegum bitch." Lance accidentally spins into Keith's arms. Lance's eyes shoot open to see Keith staring back at him with wide eyes. Keith is blushing and so is Lance, but a smirk works it's way onto Lance's face. Lance presses closer into Keith, pinning him against the wall. 

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Lance smirks as Keith stutters beneath him with his face a dark red. Lance grins mischievously and grabs his bag from the floor. He turns off his music that had changed to a slow Troye Sivan song, and makes his way back to the bathroom. He makes sure to swing his hips more than usual, though. 

Pidge and Hunk walk back in laughing to see Keith on the floor with his face buried in his hands. 

"Um, Keith?" Keith snaps up at the sound of Pidge's voice. 

"Yeah?" 

"What are you doing?" 

"Uh, sitting?" 

Pidge sighs and shakes her head. 

Lance exits the bathroom in a crop top and leggings when the doorbell rings. Lance rushes to the door and grabs his wallet. He pulls the door open with a smile. 

"Uh, your total is 16.72." The pizza delivery girl stutters out. She looks up and down Lance's figure. 

Lance winks as he hands her 17 dollars, "keep the change." He smiles, takes the pizzas from her, and closes the door as he turns back to his friends. 

Pidge glances from Keith to Lance and her eyes go wide. "Keith! I-uh-I need to talk with you. Privately." 

Hunk and Lance furrow their eyebrows but shrug as they go into the kitchen area to start getting their pizza. 

Pidge pulls Keith off the floor and into her bedroom. "Is Lance the guy you were texting me about?" 

"How did you figure that out?!" Keith yells defensive.

"Dude shut up, they're going to hear you. Anyways, I put the clues together. You texted me about a tall boy who was flirty and hot who wouldn't stop bothering you while you were at work this morning. Well, by the way you were acting when we walked in and I know Lance's morning routine, it's obvious I put two and two together. And I'm your best friend, you were bound to tell me his name at some point." Pidge shrugs. 

"Don't tell him, Pidge." 

"I'm not, I'm not. Now, RACE YOU TO GET PIZZA!" Pidge shoves Keith into a wall and darts out of her room. 

"OH FUCK YOU, PIDGE!" Keith yells with a grin on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still short but I wanted to get something out to y'all. I usually put shorter chapters with more chapters. So, currently with me writing 1,050 per chap, this fic might have 15-20 chapters. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2,112 words since this is a month late update

“I can’t believe we ate three pizzas,” Keith says downing half a can of Coke. 

“I’m glad we did. I haven’t eaten that badly in months.” Lance sighs happily. 

“You and your strict diet.” Pidge rolls her eyes. “I don’t see how you can not eat shittily.”

“A body like mine takes dedication, Pidge.” Lance grins and gestures to himself. Pidge rolls her eyes again. “What time is it?” 

“Almost ten.” Hunk checks his phone. “Shit.” He locks his phone and puts his arm over his face. 

Lance sits up. “What’s the matter, bud?” 

“Shay has called me three times, but I haven’t heard because of Mario Kart.” Hunk stands up and pulls his bag on his shoulder. “I should go.” Pidge, Keith, and Lance wave goodbye to Hunk. They sit in silence, and Lance yawns. 

“I’m so glad I don’t have class tomorrow.” He mumbles. 

“Fuck, my shift starts at 8 am tomorrow.” Keith face palms. 

“It won’t be too bad, Keith.” 

“It just means I have to see Shiro again, and I’m not ready to.” Lance and Pidge stay quiet. 

“It’s early, but I’m going to go to bed.” Pidge points to her guest bedroom; Lance nods and shuts the door behind him. 

“I have a class at 6 am tomorrow, I should go to bed too. You look like you want to think anyways.” Pidge retires to her room. Keith can hear the faint sound of her music coming from her laptop. Keith runs a hand through his hair. 

Keith walks outside to the balcony and stares up at the sky. If he went to space, would anyone miss him? Keith shakes his head, trying to rid the thoughts from his mind. Of course someone would miss him. He tries reasoning with himself. He clears his mind and observes the stars. Keith feels so tiny, so small, compared to the universe. 

Keith falls asleep listening to music and stargazing. The rain gently falling on his skin wakes him up. He stretches and goes back into Pidge’s apartment. A head looks up from the counter at him. 

“Keith? What are you doing?” Lance asks quietly. 

“I could ask you the same,” Keith counters. 

“Couldn’t sleep, when I heard it start to rain I thought I would come and watch it.” Keith nods at the explanation. Keith thought it was only fitting that Lance loves the rain. 

“It made for a nice wakeup call.” Keith laughs and shakes water droplets from his hair. “What time is it anyways?” 

“3 am.” A small smile settles on Lance’s face as he watches Keith. “It’s really early.” 

“It’s also the witching hour.” Keith grins. 

Lance rolls his eyes and scoffs. “Are you a horror fanatic of something?” 

Keith shakes his head. “No, I hate horror movies, they’re boring. My brother on the other hand, loves them. He loves the thrill and the backstories.” 

“So, is he like a creepypasta geek?” Lance raises an eyebrow. 

Keith laughs and nods. “Yeah, kinda. Shiro tried to get me into it, but when he realized it freaked me out, he started ranting to Allura about it.” 

“Wait, you get freaked out by horror? I thought you said it was boring.” 

“Ghosts and demons and paranormal shit isn’t real, but have you heard of The Russian Sleep Experiment? That was fucking scary.” Keith stands on the opposite side of the counted from Lance.

“You’re not wrong.” Lance shrugs. They stand listening to the pitter patter of the rain on the balcony concrete. Lance walks over to the glass doors and looks at the lights through drizzle. Lance sees something outside and dashes to grab it before it started pouring. Keith stares out curiously. Lance comes back with a grin and his hands behind his back. He overdramatically gets on one knee. Keith looks nervous and confused. 

“Kind sir, is this your phone?” Lance presents it to Keith who’s hands fly to his pockets. 

Keith grabs the phone. “It must’ve fallen out, thanks.” He shoves it into his pocket. 

“No problem, what were you listening to when you fell asleep?” 

“Why?” 

Lance shrugs. “You can tell a lot about a person from it.”  
“I was listening to DNA by BTS.” Keith admits. 

“You listen to K-Pop? Same! Well, I only listen to BTS, but it counts.” Lance rubs the back of his neck and nods. 

“Yeah, they’re a good band.” Keith laughs. 

The rain stops and Lance has the idea to sit outside and talk so they don’t risk waking up Pidge. Keith grabs towels from the linen closet so they don’t have to sit on the wet chairs. When Keith walks out, Lance is softly humming to Guillotine by Jon Bellion. Keith softly smiles and closes the door behind him. Lance jumps, obviously startled. They sit down and stargaze in the silence of the city. 

“Do you believe in soulmates?” Lance whispers. 

“Why are you whispering?” 

“It feels right, answer the question.” 

“I-I don’t know. I want to believe in something, but what if we’re all here on accident and just bumbling around and filling some void and some sadness with the thought of destiny, or fate, or soulmates? What if none of it is real?” Keith looks away from Lance. “Do you… believe in them?” 

“Yeah, I do.” 

“That’s nice-” Keith gets cut off by Lance’s soft words. 

“I might just use it for comfort, since all my relationships have been fucking shitty,” Lance says. 

“Oh,” Keith awkwardly says. He doesn’t know what else to say. 

“You’re cute.” Lance stares up at the stars. Keith can feel heat in his cheeks. 

“Thanks.” 

“Are you dating anyone?” The question catches Keith off guard. 

“No,” Keith simply answers. 

“Good. I mean- not good, that’s cool. Yeah, that’s cool.” Keith chuckles. 

“Are you dating anyone?”  
“Nope. I’m as single as a pringle and I’m ready to mingle.” Lance grins widely. 

“God, I didn’t know you were such a child.” Keith shakes his head grinning. 

“I’m not!” Lance protests. 

“I bet you know some Disney kids show theme song.” 

“WE’RE GOING ON A TRIP IN OUR FAVORITE ROCKETSHIP SHOOTING THROUGH THE SKY! LITTLE EINSTEINS!” 

“Shh! You’re going to wake up everyone in New York.” Keith’s eyes light up.

“What a glorious wake up call that would be.” Lance smirks. 

“You’re full of it.” Keith rolls his eyes, still laughing. 

Keith and Lance hear a loud banging and they look to the glass door. A smirking Pidge is standing with a cup of coffee in her hands. Keith walks in after Lance, but Pidge pulls him to the side. 

“It’s 4:49 am and I was woken up by the Little Einsteins theme song. I’m not tearing your heads off only because you have a crush on him.” Keith narrows his eyes and she smirks. 

“I don’t have a crush! I only met him yesterday morning!” Keith whisper yells. 

“Potential to have a crush then.” Pidge shrugs taking another sip from her coffee. She walks away laughing at Keith’s grumbling and inability to protest her logic. 

Lance bounces over to Keith. “Buddy, you should get some sleep. I’ll wake you up at 7:00 for you to get up and get ready for work.” 

Keith nods. “Sounds good. Thank you.” 

“I straightened up the bed in the guest bedroom, so you can sleep there.” Keith responds with a nod and goes to the bedroom; he closes the door behind himself. Keith strips down to his boxers and t-shirt and gets into bed. He nuzzles against the pillow and wraps the blankets around him tightly inhaling the scent of them. He’s about asleep when he realizes this is where Lance slept, this is what Lance smells like. 

Pidge quickly gets dressed and leaves Lance with a quick wave and an “I’ll see you later.” Lance waves back. He scrolls through Snapchat, checking Allura and Hunk’s latest updates. Allura’s boyfriend stayed with her last night. Realization hits Lance that Allura’s boyfriend is Keith’s brother. He can’t tell a resemblance except the color of their hair, but genetics are weird and Lance isn’t someone to judge. Hunk stayed with Shay last night too. Lance sighs and sends out a streaks picture to his list of 27 people. Several people opened it right away which wasn’t surprising; Pidge and Allura were two of the eight that did. 

 

Lance loses track of time until he glances at his phone clock that reads 7:10. “Shit.” Lance jumps to his feet and runs to the guest door. He tiptoes in and gently shakes Keith awake. Keith latches onto his arm and refuses to wake up. 

“Keith, come on. You’re going to be late.” Lance whispers a little longer. Keith frowns and shakes his head. He rolls over still holding onto Lance’s arm. Lance is pulled halfway onto the bed; he lets out an exasperated sigh. “Keith,” Lance whines. Keith only tightens his grip. 

“More sleep, you’re warm.” Keith mumbles out. Lance knows he won’t be able to get his arm out of Keith’s grip without a fight, so he pulls the covers back and lies down beside him. Keith eagerly turns back around and buries his face in Lance’s chest. Lance blushes. Why is Keith so loving when he’s sleeping? Lance wonders. He wraps his arms around Keith, enjoying the extra warmth and the extra sleep. 

Keith wakes up before Lance does. He’s confused as to where he is and whose arms around him until he looks up. Lance is softly snoring through a partially opened mouth. Keith doesn’t remember how Lance got there or why he got there, but he knows that by the amount of light coming through the window, he’s definitely late for work. Keith mentally curses, but Lance must’ve tried to wake him up. Keith gently slides out of bed. He quickly showers and gets dressed. He doesn’t want Allura even more mad at him. 

Keith enters Starbucks at 11:37. Allura is behind the counted helping a customer, Shiro is sitting at a nearby table typing on his laptop. Allura finishes helping the customer. 

“Keith-”

“I know I’m late. I’m sorry. I stayed over at Pidge’s and I overslept. I-” The bell at the top of the door rings meaning someone entered. Lance entered. Lance ran in and up to the counter. He looks disheveled like he just rolled out of bed and he probably did judging that he’s still wearing pajamas. 

“It’s not his fault! Don’t blame, Keith. Allura, please. I tried waking him up, but he latched onto my arm, so I lied down and I fell asleep.” 

“Lance, you look dreadful.”

“Allura…” Lance begs.  
“Alright, I understand. Just don’t make this a habit, Keith. Lance won’t always be here to save you.” Allura sits down with Shiro and Lance leans against the counter. One of the other baristas is in the back, but comes to the front when she see’s Lance. 

She giggles and twirls a blonde lock of hair around her finger. “Hi, handsome.” She smiles. 

Lance smiles back. “Hey.” 

“So, you come here often?” She pops a piece of gum and Lance reads her nametag. 

“Nyma!” Allura calls the girl over a little too cheerfully. “Isn’t it time for your lunch break?” Nyma frowns and looks at her watch. 

“It is,” Nyma looks back at Lance and winks, “I’ll see you around, cutie.” 

Keith clenches his fists and glares daggers at his co-worker. He’s glad she’s gone; he was so close to murdering her. Keith stops himself, Lance could talk to whoever he wanted. He just didn’t want Lance to talk to girls who were up to no good. Maybe Pidge was right, maybe Keith does have a crush on Lance. 

Keith turns back to Lance who is staring at him, all soft smiles and tired eyes. 

“Thank you,” Keith says. 

“Of course, I didn’t want you to get in trouble for my mistake.” Lance blushes when he realizes he was staring. “Sorry for staring, you’re just really pretty.” Keith blushes a shade darker than Lance and looks down. He fiddles with his hands. 

“You’re pretty too.” Keith whispers. 

Shiro and Allura watch with curious eyes. They haven’t seen Keith so open before, especially to a stranger. They’re glad Keith finally clicked with someone. 

“I should go change since I’m still in my pajamas, but I’ll see you later.” Lance waves goodbye. Keith waves after him. 

“See you!” Keith yells as Lance leaves with a blush dusting his cheeks. Keith watches as Lance wipes at his face and yawns then walks down the street. Leaving Keith alone with Shiro and Allura and open for questions and comments. He wishes Lance would come back.


End file.
